Sherlock
by SkylarkOfTheMoon
Summary: Destened-Star-Girl's challenge. Ryuga is a detective working for the Tokyo PD. He is called in to investigate a case which has remained unsolved for 100 years. As clues somehow appear to him he begins to think that a supernatural force is helping him solve the mystery. Question is: should he trust this force or not? Guess he'll just has to find out. Inspired by 'Sherlock' by SHINee


**I don't own MFB**

* * *

_Same old morning routine. _

_Same old neighbors._

_Same old car._

_Same old drive to work._

_Same old sights._

_Same old parking space._

_Same old 'Good morning' from the receptionist._

_Same old elevator._

_Same old elevator music._

_Same old early morning office mates._

_Same old boring orange walls._

_Same old boring desk._

_Same old boring life._

_Boring…._

"That is one fucked up life story dude."

In a split motion Ryuga grabbed his gun out of instinct and pointed it at Kyoya's forehead. The scarred man just stared back calmly at him as Ryuga's grip relaxed and he put his gun back on its holster underneath his jacket.

"Is it just me or the more you pull that gun on me the more you actually want to shoot me?"

Ryuga smirked and tapped his Beretta," It might've crossed my mind once or twice."

Kyoya walked in his colleague's cubicle and removed the single sheet of paper propped up in Ryuga's vintage typewriter.

"You need a life."

"And you need a breath mint," he shot back as he sat back on his chair.

Kyoya ignored the comment and waved the piece of paper in front of his face," Seriously, when was the last time you actually dated someone?"

"Let the record show…..about fifteen years ago."

Kyoya shook his head. This was Ryuga he was talking to after all. All work and no play. The only girls he ever saw Ryuga with were either office mates, suspects, witnesses or anyone related to work-not a single one from his personal life.

"Fine. Let's have a bet then. If you can get a date by the time your next investigation ends I'll do your paperwork for a month."

Ryuga stood up from his chair. He was a good two inches taller than the person in front of him. "I bet you I can," he said confidently.

The two shook on it. Then, Kyoya went back to his own cubicle just next door.

"So I heard there's a new café downtown."

Ryuga ducked as a stack of paperwork cam hurtling at him.

"You know I mean a date with a girl, idiot!"

**~oOo~**

"I need you to work on the Dominique Endou case."

It was already nighttime by the time Ryuga finished yet another normal day at work. He was already making a grab for his car keys by the time he was summoned by Gingka Hagane-the head of Tokyo PD.

Of course he knew the Dominique Endou case. It was one of the most mind-boggling disappearance case of the century. Dominique Endou was a collector of priced art pieces and a famous painter herself. After an attempt on her life she hid 'The Lilia Rosa'_-_one of the most expensive paintings in the universe. The next day she packed her bags and never returned. Many painters have tried but the said painting was now assumed as a lost artifact. No one knows where it is exactly except for Dominique Endou herself-not even her own family knows. So it really shocked Ryuga to have been assigned that case.

"Why now?"

Gingka leaned forward from his desk and rested his chin on his palm-a pose he usually assumes when he's in deep thought.

"Lately, Endou Museum, which used to be Endou Manor and Dominique's house, has been experiencing….._strange _events lately."

This piqued some curiosity in Ryuga," What kind of events?"

"That's the thing….we don't know. We just received an anonymous call form a woman claiming to be working at Endou Museum. Apparently she heard about your cases and requested that you be the one assigned to investigate this case."

"Of all the investigators here why me?"

The redhead shrugged," She didn't say she hung up right after I had our guys track down her call. It was made at 7:15 pm at Endou Museum so we could only assume that an employee was the one who made the call. Our guys are already running up backgrounds on them. Let me warn you though, none of the past detectives assigned to t his case have ever succeeded so don't feel bad if this ends up unsolved."

Ryuga smirked and leaned forward," You should know already that I don't intend to make a dent in my perfect solved cases record." Ryuga was famous for solving every case he was given. He never lets a case go unsolved.

Gingka smiled," You know I wouldn't have called you in if I knew you couldn't do it."

After accepting the case files Ryuga began to walk out of his office.

"Oh and Ryuga?" Gingka called after him.

"Hm?"

"Kyoya rarely loses bets."

_Damn! If he knows the whole building knows!"_

Ryuga slammed the door shut behind him.

**~oOo~**

The next day, exactly 8 am sharp, Ryuga pulled up his Black SUV in the parking lot of the museum. Just behind him was Madoka who had been assigned to gather information for the filing later once-and if- the case gets solved. She parked her won SUV just next to Ryuga's.

She was already opening his door before Ryuga could even get out.

"So why do you think Gingka believed that anonymous call?" she asked as he got out and closed the door behind him.

"You know how Gingka is, always doing things for the greater good-no matter how weird it seems. Not one of Dominique's successors knew where she went. Every generation did their best to assist the investigation until five years ago."

"That was the same time Endou Manor became Endou Museum," said Madoka.

"Exactly. Dominique's current successor decided to cease all investigation. Claimed that her family needed to move on. She assigned for the manor to be redone and turned it into an art museum using Dominique's collection."

"Then, five years later somebody calls to restart the investigation," concluded Madoka.

Ryuga nodded and raised the ornate knocker. They waited in silence until Ryuga remembered something.

"Hey , are you doing anything tonight? There's this new ca-"

Madoka gave a chuckle, cutting him off," So the rumors are true then."

"What rumors?"

"That Kyoya challenged you to get a date with a girl by the time your next investigation ends in exchange for doing your paperwork for a month."

Ryuga gritted his teeth in annoyance," Madoka, if you get a report saying there was a homicide in Tategami's house ignore it."

Madoka flashed him a look before muttering,"Boys."

"So will you got out with me?"

"Nope. He sad you weren't allowed to ask anyone from work. It has to be someone from your personal life-if you even have one," she whispered the final part.

Ryuga didn't seem to hear her and knocked one more time, venting out his frustration of finding a date on the knocker.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Madoka as the door finally opened," maybe the receptionist is cute."

**~oOo~**

Turns out the receptionist wasn't cute at all. He was a boy. In fact all of the employees were boys. Well…..Probably except for that one guy with burgundy hair and the weird blue lipstick. Ryuga could feel his eyes-or rather eye as he was wearing an eye patch-following him as he and Madoka were lead to the main office.

The manager of the museum was a guy with grey hair but kind blue eyes. His assistant manager had dark brown hair with blonde highlights and sky blue eyes. They introduced themselves as Toby and Zeo respectively. Once Madoka left with Zeo to get some files Ryuga received some very interesting information.

"What do you mean you don't have any female employees?"

Toby placed a file he was reading on his desk.

"After I got the call from your head about you coming in to investigate I did a background search of the museum's employee history-I've only been manager for a year, you see- and I discovered that for the five years this museum stood they've never had any female employees. For reasons unknown it was a requirement for all employees to be male."

Ryuga scratched his chin," Then, who made the call requesting the investigation to be reopened in the first place?"

"I'm just as baffled as you are detective. But nonetheless, I too am intrigued by the mystery of this place. You are welcome to carry on with your investigation as long as you keep me posted."

Ryuga stood up, so did Toby, and shook hands with him," Thank you for your help."

"Anytime."

As he was walking out Ryuga stopped short.

Just across the room stood a girl. Her back was turned to him so all he could see was her dark brown hair and the back of her white dress. She was observing the painting just in front of her. With Ryuga's eyesight he was able to see it from afar.

It was a painting of a field of flowers viewed from a rather high point. What intrigued Ryuga the most was the flowers just by the corner. They were lavender in color and were shaped in a way similar to roses.

'_Wait a second,'_ thought Ryuga, '_Those are roses.'_

Purple roses-the same one found in 'The Lilia Rosa'-were found in another painting.

"I see you've discovered 'Jardin Paradis'"

Ryuga jumped slightly and turned around.

One of the employees-this one had blonde hair and purple eyes- staring at him.

"I'm Chris. One of the tour guides of the museum," they shook hands briefly. Then, Chris began to tell him all about 'Jardin Paradis.' " 'Jardin Paradis' was one of Dominique's own work. It wasn't as famous as the others but it was still one of hers. Most of her works depicted flowers and gardens so they were mostly donated to greenhouses and other places. 'Jardin Paradis' is the only one of her works regarding flowers left in the museum. Minus, 'Lilia Rosa' of course."

"I take it you know about the investigation?" he asked.

Chris nodded," Listen, you didn't hear this from me but…," He dropped his voice to a whisper,"…..I think this place is haunted."

Ryuga stared at him.

"Yeah. I wouldn't believe it myself until I talked to some of the past investigators of this case. My Dad is the Endou family lawyer-that's how I got this job in the first place-so we get a lot of visitors in our house when I was a kid. I was curious back then so I always listened in to their conversations. With every detective it was the same thing. They said something was leading them to clues but they never make it to the second clue, only the first, before finally giving up."

"How come you have never come to the police with this information?" asked Ryuga.

"Are you kidding me? Say this mansion was haunted? They'll think I'm crazy!"

"Chris! Come over here!" called one of the employees.

Ryuga caught his arm before he could leave," What was leading them to the clues?"

Chris looked back at him and said in an eerie voice," A girl in a white dress."

With that he was gone.

Ryuga quickly snapped his head back to painting. The brown haired girl he had observed earlier was still there. It was as if she hadn't moved an inch. Just as he was about to approach her Madoka came around the corner and called over to him," Ready to start?"

He gave a nod at her then turned back to talk to the girl.

She was already gone.

**~oOo~**

The investigation started at Dominique's old office. Dust covered every furniture due to the years of being unoccupied. It was mostly surrounded by shelves of various books but faded parts on the walls showed that there used to be paintings there.

Ryuga sat on the plush red armchair in front of a Victorian desk. He sneezed as wisps of dust erupted from it. From his position he could see every inch of the spacious office. There weren't any windows except for the small transparent pane on the door.

'_Dominique was afraid,_' he concluded. Most of the people who were murdered in their office died because their assailant took advantage of the window behind their desks. The records Madoka collected showed that Dominique purposely had the window remove when she had parts of the house renovated after she inherited it. She knew she was going to be a rich person someday and that attempts on her life would happen soon enough. It was very clever.

Still, Ryuga couldn't help but feel like a caged bird. Dominique might have been comfortable that no one could sneak up on her but by removing the window she was cutting off her only connection to reality. The room itself became a cage. A cage to protect herself from anyone coming in.

Or maybe…..

A cage to protect something _inside._

Ryuga checked the desk first. He went through the drawers and made sure to tap the base to see if there were any hidden compartments. Just by studying her background he knew that Dominique was clever. There might be hidden compartments all over the house. And what better place to search first than her sanctuary?  
There were just papers in the first drawers; the next ones were filled with all sorts of painting materials-brushes, parchments, tubes of paint. None of them can help with the investigation.

Finally, he came upon the last drawer. Once he tried pulling it open though it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tugged, pulled and jerked. Ryuga slid off the seat, sending more dust flying and more sneezes out of him. He kneeled down and inspected it more closely. Unlike, the others this one had a key hole in it-a very weird one at that. It was made in a way so that it blended with the wood. Maybe that's why not one of the past detectives ever put a strange key hole as a part of their reports. They never found it in the first place. Ryuga must be the first detective to ever find it. As he looked at it closer he realized he's never seen anything like it. It must be hiding something important.

Ryuga was so busy focusing on the mystery drawer that he didn't notice Madoka walk in. She was carrying a large stack of folders but was holding it like it was nothing.

'You found anything?"

"Dominique holds a lot of secrets," he said then he told her about the drawer.

"Interesting….," Madoka though for a moment and shifted the files in her arms.

"This might interest you," she said changing the subject," You know the painting 'Jardin Paradis'? One of Dominique's originals?" He responded with a nod and she continued," Turns out 'Jardin Paradis' is an actual garden-the garden out back to be exact. Based on the layout of the museum there is only one place where it was possible to make that painting at that angle."

A clue, Ryuga's instincts told him," Where?"

Madoka adjusted her glasses, the light reflecting on only one lens.

"Dominique Endou's bedroom."

**~oOo~**

Dominique's bedroom was located at the back part of the mansion. After some help from Zeo Ryuga was able to make it through the maze-like hallways of the mansion/museum.

The door opened with a long creak and Ryuga entered the former room of Dominique Endou.

It was the same as her office-dust covering the furniture. The only difference was the large queen sized bed in the middle and this one had a window.

Ryuga made his way to the only window in the room, his fingers brushing against the silk covers of the bed.

What must have it been like for Dominique? To have fame and fortune but live all alone in a large house? From what Madoka read in the files they were given Dominique was an only child and a widower. Her son and daughter have their own families and lived all over to the other side of the world. She must've been lonely. To not have anyone you can trust with your problems and secrets. Maybe that's why she dropped out without a trace.

The sun was brightly shining so Ryuga was able to make out the garden just below him.

_Wait a second._

Right where the garden was _supposed _to be was a large hedge maze.

The garden was gone.

**~oOo~**

His observation was right. Once Ryuga made it to the garden he made his way to the opening of the maze. Sure enough when he got here there wasn't a trace of any of the flowers he saw in the painting.

"You're ruining my art!"

Before Ryuga could even turn around he was shoved aside by that burgundy haired guy from earlier. As he dusted his suit the other guy was patting down soil in the place where Ryuga once stood.

"Excuse m-"

"WHAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO STEP ON MY BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ART?!"

Ryuga was pretty sure he heard glass breaking somewhere.

"That's the thing with you inartistic people," he continued," It's bad enough that you don't know art even if it ran over you ruin other people's art too. It's almost like you want to destroy every piece of art in the universe and make us live in an art-less life. I can't imagine life without art. It's preposterous! Without art everything would be ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly! And if everything is ugly people would start killing themselves off until the human race becomes extinct. Is that what you want? YOU WANT US ALL TO DIE?!"

"Uh...," Ryuga wasn't sure what to say,"…Good afternoon?"

"Good afternoon," said the guy like the last ten seconds hadn't happened," My name is Jack, artist extraordinaire. How may I help you?"

Ryuga was about to say something when he got interrupted yet again.

"Look out!"

The detective was able to duck in time to dodge the wheelbarrow that came running their way. Unfortunately for Jack the wheelbarrow landed on him, knocking him out.

"Sorry," said a guy with messy dark blue hair and blue eyes. He was trailed by a guy with black and white hair and brown eyes. Both of them were wearing t-shirts under overalls and working boots with matching gloves.

"I told you to pull the brakes!" said the one with blue hair.

"It's a wheelbarrow! It doesn't have brakes!" the one with black hair pointed out.

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Eh-hem," Ryuga cleared his throat, catching both of their attention," I'm Ryuga Kishatu from Tokyo PD ca-"

"I'm King and that guy with the idiotic tri-colored hair is Masamune," said the one with blue hair, interrupting Ryuga.

"Hey!" The black haired guy-Masamune-protested.

"Ignore him. How can I help you?"

"Right, I'm a detective working on the End-"

He got interrupted yet again. This time by Masamune," Are you sure you're a detective?"

"Excuse me?" asked Ryuga.

Masamune walked around him, observing him from all angles, making exclamations like 'uh-huh' and 'okay.' He was poked a bunch of times and had a stare off with the weird gardener.

'I'm not convinced. Aren't you supposed to have a pipe and a magnifying glass?" _'That's Sherlock Holmes, dimwit,'_ thought Ryuga.

"That's absurd Masamune." _'Thank you.'_

"It's way overused. Detectives today have fedoras and trench coats." _'Never mind.'_

As the two gardeners continued to bicker on the wardrobe of a detective Ryuga saw a flash of white at the corner of his eye. He turned around in time to see a wisp of dark brown hair disappearing through the maze of the garden. Ignoring the two gardeners-make that three as Jack started regaining consciousnesses-Ryuga turned on his heel and ran inside the maze.

It was just like typical rich people mazes-hedges about three feet taller than him with some flowers appearing here and there. As he walked in deeper the voices of the bickering gardeners got lower and lower until they completely disappeared and was replaced by temporary silence-temporary because it was quickly replaced by the sound of someone's footsteps. Ryuga quickened his pace and was now in some sort of clearing inside the maze. In the middle of the clearing was a fountain with three layers and a dove as a centerpiece on the top layer. Just next to the fountain was the girl Ryuga saw earlier observing the 'Jardin Paradis.'

She had long and curly dark brown hair and her eyes were blue with some grey in them. Just like earlier she was wearing the same white dress.

'_A girl in a white dress,' _thought Ryuga remembering Chris' words. And Gingka said that a girl was the one who made the anonymous call requesting the reopening of the investigation. Is it possible she was the girl?

She looked at Ryuga for a moment before her lips curved into a smile. She walked towards the fountain, completely obscuring herself from Ryuga's view. He quickly ran towards her-he wasn't going to let her get away that easy. But once Ryuga got there he was surprised to see that she was gone-it was like she disappeared into thin air.

_I think I'm going crazy._

A ring broke the silence. Ryuga flipped his cell phone open and said a 'hello' into the receiver.

"_Look up."_

He did just that wand saw Madoka waving at him from the window of Dominique Endou's room.

"_You were right. The view is great!"_

Ryuga smiled," Do you have the blueprints?" He had Madoka borrow the blueprints of the new garden and compare it to the blueprints of the old garden. She disappeared back in the room and came back a few minutes later.

"_I found something interesting."_

"What is it?"

"_According to the blueprints the middle of the maze is exactly where the garden used to be."_

That got Ryuga thinking," By any chance do you think you can pinpoint exactly where the purple roses in the painting used to be in this maze?"

He could feel Madoka smirking on the other end_," Give me a minute."_

She went back in the room again. On his phone, Ryuga heard the sound of papers shuffling, silence, then an exclamation of 'aha!'

Madoka poked her head back out the window,_" Move a step to your left."_

Ryuga took a step and felt smooth marble come into contact with his leg. He looked down to see his reflection in the water.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"_Nope."_

There was a click and she hung up.

Ryuga sighed and folded the sleeves of his jacket up and plunged his arms in the water. The gardeners weren't doing a very good job as the water felt like it hasn't been changed for over a year. As he continued to prowl his hands bumped against rocks and some other stuff he would rather not talk about. Once Ryuga found out what he's looking for isn't going to be in the water Ryuga pulled his arms out and began circling the fountain searching for something-anything-that could be a clue.

He suddenly remembered something he did earlier. He pulled out his phone once more and looked at the picture of the 'Jardin Paradis' he had taken. From what little he knows about paintings the painters put their signatures on the lower right corner. Ryuga zoomed in on that particular spot and enhanced it. Once he saw Dominique's signature Ryuga began to search the fountain's statue. It's a bit farfetched but….

There it was! Just on the back of the dove was an engraved letter 'D' in fancy handwriting. Ryuga pulled out a magnifying glass-maybe that Masamune guy was on to something-and observed the engravement closer. It was small enough to not be detected easily but also deep enough to for something small and thin to be pushed in.

_Small and thin. _Ryuga's mind began to put two pieces of the puzzles together and took out a small switchblade he always carries with him. Digging the blade deep in the marble Ryuga began to wiggle it deeper and deeper until he hit something hard. Switching the blade to that of a chisel he began to pry off the marble bit by bit until the chunk with the engravement completely broke off. Ryuga caught it before it could land in the water. Unfortunately, this caused him to lose his balance and…..

_Splash!_

…..land headfirst in the fountain.

Madoka, who had left the room to help Ryuga, arrived just in time to see him emerge from the fountain dripping we t from head to toe.

Ryuga shook his head, sending sprays of water everywhere just as Madoka approached him laughing her head off.

"Found anything?" she asked after taking a huge breath.

He held up the chunk of marble he pried off.

Wedged in the hole made by the engravement was a small silver key.

**~oOo~**

Despite complaints from Zeo about getting the floor wet, Ryuga made his way back to Dominique Ednou's office followed by Zeo, Toby and Madoka. It was still dusty as before but this time he didn't mind the irritation in his nose. He pushed the chair away and knelt down. This was the moment of truth. Ryuga entered the key in the odd slot he found. Once he turned it, however, instead of the drawer opening like he expected it to Madoka shrieked as the wall behind her-the one that used to have the window-slid open with a snap!

Three of the occupants in the room gawked at the sight while one of them smirked in triumph.

Lilia Rosa-what has been considered as a lost artifact-has been found.

**~oOo~**

Toby publicly announced the founding of the 'Lilia Rosa.' The painting now hung in the main viewing room which was crowded with reporters and photographers. Ryuga stood just by the side of the crowd flanked on either side by Gingka and Madoka both of whom were oblivious to the deep thoughts circling in their companion's mind.

"The museum would also like to thank Agent Ryuga Kishatu for solving this case…," Toby continued,

'_That's just the thing_,' thought Ryuga,' _I didn't solve this case. Alone at least. That girl, whoever she is, she was the one who helped me solve this case._ _The painting, the maze-she was the one who lead me to those clues. If she hadn't been there I would have ended up a failure like those other detectives. I have her to thank for helping me.'_

If only he knew who she was.

"Hey," Gingka broke him out o his thoughts," They're putting up a picture of Dominique by the Lilia Rosa."

Ryuga watched as Toby hung a framed photograph and stepped away to allow the media to take pictures. His eyes widened as he saw the photograph. Now he knew who the mysterious girl was.

It was the spirit of Dominique Endou.

**~oOo~**

By the time the media left it was already sunset when the thereof them walked back to their cars.

"So, you have a date yet?" asked Gingka.

_Damn. _He forgot the time limit of their bet was until he finishes his investigation.

"You know…," started Madoka as she opened her car door,"….An investigation doesn't officially end until the paperwork is done but given how fast you were able to solve this and what little we had to work with it will take about two hours to finish."

"How am I supposed find a girl in less than two hours?" he asked.

"Agent Kishatu!"

Ryuga turned around and saw Chris running towards him followed by the rest of the staff-Toby, Zeo, King, Masamune and Jack who had a bandage around his head.

"Can I help you with something?"

It was Toby who answered him," Ms. Endou would like to speak with you."

Ryuga raised an eyebrow as Masamune and King stepped aside to reveal a girl with dark brown hair and grayish blue eyes. What shocked him the most was her striking resemblance with Dominique Endou.

"I'm Wanda Dominique Endou. Pleasure to meet you."

He didn't know why but a warm, fuzzy feeling bubbled at the put of Ryuga's stomach when she shook his hand.

"Your middle name is Dominique?" he asked.

The girl nodded," Dominique was my great-great grandmother so I would like to personally thank the detective who solved her mystery."

Ryuga smiled," No thanks necessary, ma'am."

"Please, call me Wanda. And there must be some way I can show my appreciation."

Ryuga gave a sidelong glance to Gingka and Madoka," Tell Tategami he can start working on my paperwork now."

He turned back to face Wanda," There's this new café downtown. Would you like to join me?"

* * *

**Hope you guys like it. This is my first time writing a mystery story.**

**Reviews?**

**Pwease? *puppy dog eyes***


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